The Van Buren County girls and boys track and field teams were both leading their respective team standings Thursday, March 26th at the Albia Early Bird Invitational when the meet was cancelled due to lightning before all events could be completed.
The Van Buren County girls held first place with 106 points at the time of cancellation, ahead of Moravia with 61, Cardinal with 56, Southeast Warren and Albia tied with 38 each, Clarke with 31, and Twin Cedars with 2. No official boys team scores were available, but Van Buren County was leading the boys standings when the meet was called. The meet was cancelled right before the boys 110-meter high hurdles.
Girls Results
Van Buren County’s girls claimed five event victories before the cancellation.
Rylee Philips won the 3,000-meter run in 12:21.50, with Aubrey Irving of Moravia finishing second in 16:15.04. The 4×200 relay team of Adalyn Snowgren, Aubrey Loeffler, Ali Pedretti, and Kayley Snowgren won in 2:00.18. The 4×800 relay team of Rory Philips, Adalyn Snowgren, Gabby Titus, and Kayley Snowgren won in 11:06.88, with Clarke finishing second in 12:53.85. The 800-meter sprint medley team of Aida Troutman, Ava Loeffler, Daphny Wells, and Emma Coffin won in 2:02.68.
In the individual track events, Aida Troutman placed second in the 100-meter dash in 14.30, with Grace Richards 11th in 15.94. Kaylin Hissem of Cardinal won in 13.95. Rory Philips was second in the 400-meter dash in 1:06.20 — just three hundredths of a second behind winner Leilani DeForest of Albia, who crossed in 1:06.17. Gabby Titus added a fifth-place finish in 1:11.61.
In the distance medley relay, the team of Emma Coffin, Daphny Wells, Ava Loeffler, and Kayley Snowgren placed second in 4:40.09 behind Albia’s winning time of 4:25.87. In the shuttle hurdle relay, the team of Armoney Adams, Aubrey Loeffler, Willow Worley, and Ali Pedretti placed third in 1:23.23 behind Clarke’s winning time of 1:15.73.
In the field events, Aubrey Loeffler placed fifth in the high jump clearing 4-02. Brynlee Swaby of Moravia won at 4-09. In the long jump, Aida Troutman placed second at 14-05.25, Ali Pedretti eighth at 12-10, Rory Philips 10th at 11-07.50, Jacqueline Singer 11th at 11-03.75, and Armoney Adams 12th at 10-01.50. Lexi Clendenen of Southeast Warren won at 14-09.75.
In the shot put, Briley Losey placed third at 28-08.50, Elli Daugherty fourth at 26-11.75, Lizzie Camp eighth at 24-02.75, Willow Worley ninth at 24-01.75, and Grace Richards 18th at 21-10. Madison Olsasky of Southeast Warren won at 30-04. In the discus, Briley Losey placed second at 90-01 and Sofia Scharf third at 85-06.50, with Lizzie Camp sixth at 76-02, Elli Daugherty seventh at 73-00, Willow Worley 11th at 66-08.50, and Grace Richards 12th at 59-09.50. Bristol Albert of Cardinal won the event at 95-01.
Girls head coach Lucinda DeHart was proud of how her team competed despite being asked to step into unfamiliar roles.
“I continue to be proud of our girls,” DeHart said. “Many of them are stepping up and competing in events they are not used to, but are doing it to keep our team competitive and also to make themselves stronger for the end of the season. We are very fortunate to have a team of coachable girls. We have some very promising younger athletes who are benefiting from the guidance of our juniors and our one senior. It is always a struggle in the beginning of the season to know where each athlete will benefit the most — for themselves and the team. We learn a lot in these first few meets. One thing we have seen, as I said before, our girls are here to do what is best for their team and work hard in practice to better themselves.”
Boys Results
The Van Buren County boys claimed several event victories in the events that were completed before the cancellation.
Lincoln Bainbridge won the 100-meter dash in 11.55, with Kavin Carter 14th in 13.04 and Braxton Headley 20th in 16.24. Landry Loeffler won the 3,200-meter run in 10:33.78 in what coach described as a big personal record, with Sawyer Spiker adding a third-place finish in 12:26.17 behind Gable Whitlow of Moravia in second at 11:12.10. Jeran Troxel placed second in the 400-meter dash in 55.59 behind winner Beau Buckingham of Albia at 52.59. Landry Loeffler added a fifth-place finish in the 400 in 58.14 and Carver Goehring ninth in 62.85.
The Warriors won the 800-meter sprint medley with the team of Jace Duncan, Aiden Cooper, Jeran Troxel, and Lincoln Bainbridge crossing first in 1:36.04, ahead of Cardinal in second at 1:44.58. A second Van Buren County team of Parker Boley, Jaydan Pilcher, Marion Yoder, and Joni Yoder placed 10th in 1:55.92. The Warriors also won the distance medley relay with Aiden Cooper, Jace Duncan, Camden Wells, and Gavin Noll winning in 3:59.35, ahead of Southeast Warren in second at 4:11.05. The 4×110-meter shuttle hurdle relay team of Camden Wells, Parker Boley, Jayce Simmons, and Kayden Simmons also won in 1:09.68.
Kayden Simmons won the high jump, clearing 5-08. In the 4×200 relay, the team of Kavin Carter, Jackson Meek, Jayce Simmons, and Thomas Roberts placed sixth in 1:45.17 behind Clarke’s winning time of 1:38.38. The 4×800 relay team of Jackson Meek, Thomas Roberts, Kayden Farris, and Carver Goehring placed third behind Albia’s winning time of 9:19.73.
In the long jump, Jace Duncan placed sixth at 17-07, Joni Yoder 12th at 15-10.25, Carver Goehring 15th at 15-07, Jayce Simmons 16th at 15-04.25, and Sawyer Spiker 21st at 14-00.50. Emmett Holohan of EBF won the event at 20-03.
In the discus, Ryder Simmons placed sixth with a throw of 112-01, Jackson Meek 13th at 99-05, Cooper Philip 29th at 70-10.50, and Kaden Miller 33rd at 65-01. Blake Lamansky of Cardinal won at 135-11.50.
Boys head coach Mike Bainbridge was encouraged by what he saw before the weather ended the meet.
“I will say that I was happy with our performances in the events that we did get in,” Bainbridge said. “The sprint medley ran well for an early meet. Landry Loeffler ran a big PR and looked great in the 2-mile. We had several first place finishes and I’m starting to see some things click with the younger guys.”
Photo courtesy of the Van Buren County social media pages.
